Spotify and Google teaming up to challenge iTunes Music Store?

If you are not familiar with Spotify — an online subscription based music service with millions of songs in its catalog that offers offline synchronization with the desktop and some mobile devices — there is a high likelihood you are living Stateside. Even though it still not available in the U.S. — really, thanks RIAA — TechCrunch is reporting that Google and Spotify are working together on some sort of partnership that would perhaps build Spotify support right into Android 2.1, and potentially the Nexus One. Details are scarce about whether this partnership would result in a free, ad supported online music catalog for consumers (doubtful) or a subscription based service to compete with Apple iTunes Music Store. Either way, we are keeping our fingers crossed that offline synchronization stays on the table at some level, paid or not. This does make us curious though, would any of you switch to a subscription based service like Spotify if it allowed for offline synchronization? Or is owning/sharing/dominating your MP3 library a complete necessity?

I’ll never get away from owning music because subscription services will never include real depth in a variety of music genres.

http://www.smallfish-bigpond.com Kerensky97

Agreed, subscription music services cover some of the basics but whenever a new company comes out I check some of my favorites that are more obscure and they usually come up short.

So far last.fm is the only one that has the diversity of worldwide music + a backlog of music before 1970, although being stateside I’ve never been able to compare spotify.

So for now I stick to running my own catalog off my home server.

Who?

When was the last time you looked at the Napster, Rhapsody, or Zune catalog? I’m guessing you never have.

Kev

I agree with Paul… I like having full control of my digital content. Subscription based service is like renting your music library.

SUGAR GROVE

Nice if the Editors would use spellcheck
to challenge the Itunes Music Store

Soddy

It’s ok Nazi, the Third Reich has been defeated for some time now. Lay down your arms and have a cookie.

JS

@Paul – What? I use napster to go and I’ve always been able to find what I’m looking for. And a lot of stuff I never knew existed. Over 8 million tracks. I think that’s deep enough for me.

Stevearino

…and of course it is not available in Canada because we have such a small market and rules that protect big businesses like the telco’s and communications/media conglomerates.

skillian

The free Spotify is a truly amazing service on the PC, but it’s still best used as a supplement to your music collection rather than a replacement.

Some artists don’t exist there (The Beatles and Tracy Chapman spring to mind), although the exact roster might be different in the US than in the UK.

Subscription service is a different matter though – at £10 a month (about $16) it’s pretty expensive for a monthly charge and has put me off using Spotify on Android so far.

Biggles

Beatles aren’t on iTunes either. Those that can command a premium, will.

Soddy

Correct me if I’m wrong (and I may very well be) but didn’t Michael Jackson hold the rights to all the Beatles songs? Wasn’t there some big fuss between him and Paul McCartney? Or was it something completely unrelated.

dans

I use spotify on my E71 and i love it. Just search or setup a playlist and they are synced across my platforms instantly.

Offline access is a godsend on the tube.

capt

hell no, why subscribe to something you can’t keep. that model works well in some content areas but not music.

Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone).

Who?

Why doesn’t it work well in music? Because Mr. Jobs says so?

There is a world outside the USA

Won’t support anywhere except USA so care factor is zero

skillian

Spotify is already available on Android in many other countries.

Biggles

Yeah, I think you read that wrong. Is supported everywhere BUT the USA right now.

Kyle

I think owning is necessary, whether you prefer iTunes or Amazon.

Who?

Why is owning necessary?

StevenGlansburg

I really like the whole idea of these kinds of services. Pandora and Slacker have introduced me to a bunch of good music that I would never have known if not for using their apps both on phones and on a computer. In fact I would venture to guess that I am not alone in going to amazon or itunes to buy a particular song I really liked.

However, I wouldn’t pay a subscription fee for something unless I literally could find absolutely any song I want and listen to that very song whenever and as many times I want… which is more or less owning it.

Who?

I don’t think you understand. For the price of 1 CD a month you get access to 8 to 10 million tracks. If that catalog is missing something, you can still download it from iTunes, eMusic, or Amazon. But you’re likely to find everything you want.

I don’t see how you wouldn’t save money this way, even if you still have to buy a handful of tracks 1 by 1.

SUGAR GROVE

Another great presentation Job’s did during the iphone intro January 2007 demonstrating various artists on the iphone including the Beatles which of course 3 years later still aren’t on the iphone but gave the impression that we would have been able to get them in June 2007 when the phone came out.
should have called Snow Leopard SnowJOB

ron

“a subscription based service to compete with Apple iTunes Music Store.”

Don’t complain about losing all your tunes when this thingy goes defunct.

skillian

You don’t ‘lose’ or gain anything on Spotify. It’s like an on-demand digital radio – you just search for what you want to hear and press play.

It’s not really competing with iTunes – although Apple’s recent purchase of LaLa suggests they also like the streaming idea and that would bring the two services much closer.

If you “lose” then because it goes defunct (and it’s been a huge hit outside the U.S., so this is unlikely) you can just join another subscription service and “get your music back.”

You guys really don’t get the big picture here. 8 or 10 million tracks to access for the price of 1 CD a month.

~phel

Who buys music anymore?

SUGAR GROVE

As of January 2009, the store has sold 6 billion songs,

Brad

I still buy music, vinyll and digital but only buy WAVE files from e- sites that offer it such as Beatport, Traxsource etc. because unlike most people now, I still care about how my music sounds.

Who?

As someone who appears to care about his music and the filetypes they exist in, you should be aware that it’s WAV and not WAVE.

andre

They are called WAVE files; the WAV refers to the .wav.

Nicholas

I gotta own my tunes.

fluidj

It’s almost like no-one on BGR has ever heard of Zune…..

Who?

Or Rhapsody or Napster, side-loaded subscription tracks from which are compatible with WinMo.

It also sounds like no one here has heard of Tunebite.

Mrwirez

Mp3’s are awful. They are nowhere near the recorded quality. Maybe I am old school, but the best sounding music is on clean vinyl. All these subscription based or ad filled music companies are a joke. I installed itunes with quicktime once and it tried to take complete control of my all my media.. itunes is a horrible program/service. I buy my music and I use FLAC format as much as possible for compression. There is #Cyanogen code for FLAC format on rooted Android devices.

~phel

You should put a record player in your car, get it all 810-f mil. spec’d. to keep from skipping.

Mrwirez

Lol.. not a bad idea… The Department of Defense would not release it to me..

~phel

my dad swears he had a friend in the ’70s that had a record player hooked up in his car…lol. crazy stoners

Eddie

Crazy, no, Chrysler had Turn tables as an option on higher end models in the ’60s.

They mounted under dash an had the platter size of a 45.

They were after market options too.

~phel

What’s a Zune?

Nuff Vibes

I don’t buy any music, I just download them from bittorrent hehehe!

DetroitMak

Don’t support the artist behind the music, there will be no more music to download.

~phel

I support them by buying overpriced tickets and merch. at their shows. If you know about the music industry you would know that the musicians make their money by touring and merchandise sales…

DetroitMak

Yes, but if they dont produce sales, their label will not send them on tour or create merchandise to sell.

~Phel

There are allot of ways to get your music out other than big labels ya know….look into it times have changed from the ’80s

Galen20K

Yes bring it on. It’ll be really interesting if they do this.

cpete753

Like a few others have said I’d prefer to own my music. I still buy CDs, I just like having hard copies. And you can’t really compete with iTunes at this point

Bobba

I’m already there with my Zune. But if I could have the same sort of Zune pass functionality on my Droid I would certainly sell my Zune ad move on.

Who?

What’s wrong with Napster or Rhapsody? Both are compatible with WinMo.

Who?

I don’t understand the need to own music. Been a Rhapsody subscriber since 2003.

AK

I am surprised that more people aren’t speaking up in favor of a subscription music service…. I think this would be an absolutely perfect solution as long as it allowed off-line listening. I own a ton of old CDs in my “music collection” that I never listen to or even look at anymore. However, there are even more songs and artists over the years that I have liked, but didn’t want to buy the song/album to listen to only a few times.